Just when you think that things have it rock bottom in Washington, someone is standing there with a jackhammer ready to go even lower. This week’s winner (or loser) is a fellow named Alan Gottlieb, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation. Gottlieb says he was present during the discussions between Senators Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey and helped write the final version of their background check amendment, which he endorses. But, in what can only be described as a tacky, tasteless and gratuitous exercise, Gottlieb claims that the amendment is “… a Christmas Tree. We just hung a million ornaments on it. If you really read what’s in Manchin-Toomey bill – man it’s a godsend.” In what is supposed to be a signal that he personally has not let his supporters down, he felt compelled to go even further by saying that “We win (gun) rights back like crazy. I think we snookered the other side. They haven’t figured it out yet”.

Just when you think that things have it rock bottom in Washington, someone is standing there with a jackhammer ready to go even lower. This week’s winner (or loser) is a fellow named Alan Gottlieb, executive director of the Second Amendment Foundation. Gottlieb says he was present during the discussions between Senators Joe Manchin and Pat Toomey and helped write the final version of their background check amendment, which he endorses. But, in what can only be described as a tacky, tasteless and gratuitous exercise, Gottlieb claims that the amendment is “… a Christmas Tree. We just hung a million ornaments on it. If you really read what’s in Manchin-Toomey bill – man it’s a godsend.” In what is supposed to be a signal that he personally has not let his supporters down, he felt compelled to go even further by saying that “We win (gun) rights back like crazy. I think we snookered the other side. They haven’t figured it out yet”.

"President Obama is taking a hard line on North Korea, dispatching Secretary of State John Kerry for a show of force and winning applause from most worried about the nuclear threat. He also scored compromise points with his budget, and this week's immigration debate should help the president's standing in the nation. From my perspective as a historian, it appears Obama is on the road to collecting some accomplishments."

Zogby, whose former business occupied the Utica office building for a decade, now works as a senior analyst for his son Jonathan’s company, Zogby Analytics. That company moved to the site of the former IBOPE Zogby International call center in early January.